Lots of close games, lots of crazy buzzer beaters on Wednesday night. But it wasn’t just the Jeff Greens and Klay Thompsons that got their team wins, it was others like the three guys below. Except for the Third Star, he tried but got undone by some guy named LeBron.

Third Star: Nikola Vucevic(25 points, 21 rebounds)

Orlando almost did it, they almost came from 20 back to end the Heat’s winning streak (and they would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for that meddling LeBron James). Nikola Vucevic was a big part of that, he had 15 points and 14 rebounds in the second half and provided that inside presence you must have to challenge the Heat.

Second Star: Blake Griffin(23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists)

Yes, Blake Griffin can dunk. Sweet tomahawk dunks off between-the-legs alley-opp passes. But if you think that’s all he can do you haven’t watched him outside of highlights for a while. He is a load in the post right now. He has a good spin move, good footwork, and he plays to his strengths — his athleticism — and he gets to the rim and takes good shots. He was 8-of-9 in the restricted area against the Bucks (a very good shot blocking team) and made a good defender in Larry Sanders look bad a couple times in there.

First Star: Kobe Bryant(42 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds)

It feels at time like Kobe Bryant is willing the Lakers to the playoffs. At age 34. With an elbow that is flaring up and an assortment of injuries that would sideline most players. For nearly 42 minutes Wednesday the Lakers looked like they would get blown out by the Pelicans-to-be, but Kobe would not let that happen. He had 18 points and only missed one shot in the fourth quarter, plus he had a couple assists. He would not let the Lakers lose (and the Hornets helped by collapsing).

I don’t know how far Kobe’s Jedi powers extend but the Jazz and Rockets continue to give the Lakers all the help they need to let Los Angeles get into the playoffs. What once seemed out of reach is coming together for the Lakers. Much like this game.

That’s a fine sentiment. Saying it publicly is another matter. Not even Harden did that a couple years ago. He was recorded during a pregame team huddle.

There’s a fine line between self-fulfilling confidence and providing bulletin-board material to the opponent. There’s already some animosity between the teams stemming from the Stephen Curry-Harden MVP race in 2015, and it has bubbled since. No matter how harmless Capela’s remark might have been intended to be, it’ll be met contentiously in the Bay Area.

Oklahoma City traded for Victor Oladipo out of Orlando to be their third scorer, behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It didn’t exactly work out that way, Durant bolted town and when Westbrook went off Oladipo was looking for a place to fit in.

That place turned out to be the Pacers.

Oladipo has been playing like an All-Star this season with Indiana, and last week he was key in snapping Cleveland’s 13 game win streak, then turned around and dropped 47 points on Denver. For the week he averaged 35.7 points a game, shot 45.7 percent from three, plus grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game.